CEC Gyanesh Kumar and 2006 Keralam bribery case: What happened then, why is probe being reopened – Explained

Last week, the Congress-led government in Keralam directed the state’s Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau to reopen a 2006 probe into an alleged bribery claim against the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Gyanesh Kumar. The case is about the death by suicide of Malaysian civil engineer Lee See Been, who was associated with the PATI-BEL consortium involved in the upgradation of road construction project under the Kerala State Transport Project (KSTR). The development came as Opposition leaders, including Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, demanded the CEC’s resignation over allegations of irregularities in the revision of electoral rolls under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Delhi police on Tuesday night temporarily detained Rahul Gandhi in the national capital to end an almost nine-hour standoff during a protest seeking Kumar’s resignation.
Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were escorted by the police toward a bus from Akashvani Bhawan premises, after they were barred by hundreds of officers from marching to the election office earlier in the day. The Congress leaders were later released at night.
What is the 2006 case against Gyanesh Kumar?

In 2006, Kumar, a 1988-batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, served as Secretary of the state Public Works Department (PWD). During his tenure, a bribery claim had emerged after a suicide note of a Malaysian engineer, who was part of a World Bank-aided Road work project executed by a Malaysian and Indian joint venture called PATI-BEL.
The Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP) has been a flagship project of the state PWD. At a cost of ₹1,600 crore, the project aimed to renovate select major roads totalling 1,600 km under the PWD with a World Bank loan.
The Keralam-based Bhageeratha Engineering and Malaysian firm PATI joined hands for the bidding. The joint venture took up works worth ₹216 crore, mainly involving the modernisation of the main central road from the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram in the south to Angamaly in Central part of the state. The project would build the state’s first road designed with novel surfacing techniques. PATI-BEL began work on the project in December 2002 after entering into a final agreement with the then Congress-led government. In October 2006, the contractor informed the government that they could not complete the work within the original deadline, citing the delay in land acquisition. As construction costs escalated, PATI-BEL demanded a 30% increase in the contract amount. The finance department, led by Thomas Isaac under the CPI(M) government, refused the demand and sought the World Bank’s permission to re-tender the work. The suicide caseLee See Been, 54, was the chief project manager of the works executed by PATI-BEL. In 2006, the company submitted bills worth ₹18 crore for payment. According to Legislative Assembly documents from 2007, PATI-BEL officials visited the ministers several times to seek payment. As the chief project manager, Lee was reportedly under pressure from subcontractors and construction material vendors seeking payment. As the work got delayed, the Congress-led Opposition also put pressure on the CPI(M) government. It was the former alliance that had awarded the work to the venture. On 11 November, 2006, Lee, who had by then returned to Malaysia, died by suicide in Kuala Lumpur. He reportedly left a suicide note addressed to the company director and his wife, alleging that PWD officials had sought bribes for clearing the bills. Reports suggested that the suicide note had included the name of the then PWD secretary, Gyanesh Kumar. The suicide note was never made public. What did the investigation reveal? A month after Lee’s death in 2006, the then CPI(M) government removed Kumar from his post. A probe by the Vigilance Bureau to examine the allegations was also ordered. The government cancelled the contract with PATI-BEL because the work could not be completed by the deadline. Subsequently, the government re-tendered the work. In March 2010, then Keralam Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, a CPI(M) leader, informed the Legislative Assembly that two Vigilance probes concerning the KSTP were ongoing. However, the probe did not proceed. Kumar, who was removed as the PWD secretary in December 2006, was not given any fresh posting in the state, according to a report in Indian Express. He then went on central deputation to New Delhi, when the Congress-led UPA government was in power. What happened to the project? In 2007, the CPI(M) government in Keralam cancelled the contract with PATI-BEL. A year later, the government agreed to renew the contract with PATI-BEL itself. PATI-BEL took over the project again after the government allotted an additional ₹72 crore, in addition to the original ₹216 crore. Congress veteran and Keralam’s Opposition leader Oommen Chandy had then demanded Finance Minister Thomas Isaac clarify the circumstances of the renewal, given that Isaac had demanded blacklisting of PATI-BEL when the work was delayed.